Covid-19: Number of deaths in Bulgaria rises to six

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The number of deaths of
patients in Bulgaria who had tested positive for Covid-19 has risen
to six, after a man from Bansko and one in Kyustendil died on March
28, a briefing on Saturday evening was told.

Previously, the death of the fourth patient, a woman in her 60s, had been announced at the day’s morning briefing. The first three patients died between March 11 and 19.

In the case of the death of Bansko, the patient had had a number of serious medical problems and it is not confirmed that Covid-19 was the cause of death.

Crisis staff chief Major-General Ventsislav Mutafchiyski said that the total number of confirmed cases in Bulgaria now added up to 331.

The 18 cases newly
confirmed since the morning were in Sofia, Blagoevgrad, Smolyan,
Varna and Shoumen. In the 24 hours since the previous evening
briefing, on Friday, the total number of confirmed cases has
increased by 37.

Responding to a
question, Mutafchiyski said that Bulgaria had neither reached the
plateau nor the peak of the disease.

He said that there no
boom as in other countries, and nor was Bulgaria’s mortality rate the
same as in other countries.

Two further patients
had been discharged following each showing negative in two
consecutive tests. One had been in Pirogov emergency hospital and the
other at the Military Medical Academy in Sofia.

Commissioner Nikolai Nikolov, head of the firefighting and civil defence directorate and chief of the logistics staff against coronavirus, said that volunteers were assisting at health care facilities, and with social services, and would assist at checkpoints at the entrances to and exits from major cities. This corps of volunteers, numbering more than 3200, was set up by Nikolov on the orders of Prime Minister Boiko Borissov.

Chief State Health
Inspector Associate Professor Angel Kunchev said that as soon as the
anti-epidemic measures were lifted, routine vaccinations for children
would resume, in line with a revised calendar. He said that such
suspensions of routine vaccinations had happened in the past, during
“flu vacations” though those usually only lasted for one to
two weeks. With the current situation, the suspension would probably
last a month or two, Kunchev said.

Borissov told the
briefing that current estimates were that the Covid-19 crisis would
last up to three months. Emphasising that this duration was an
estimate, he said that there was sufficient money in the surplus to
last that long, after which borrowing might be necessary.

Borissov again outlined that the government’s approach to spending was cautious, in the face of demands from business for huge aid. At the end of the crisis, it would be necessary for there to be funds to assist recovery of the economy. He underlined that if the state borrowed money, it would have to repay it.

He said that the
country had plentiful stocks of alcohol that could be used for
medicinal alcohol, and the levels in the reserve of basic foodstuffs
such as lentils, beans and corns had been checked. Bulgaria would be
in a position to export alcohol to other countries.

Borissov reiterated his call to the public to stick to the anti-epidemic recommendations and for young people to assist their elderly relatives.

The Prime Minister has ordered a check so that all, from medical personnel to those in other fields, who are working on the front line against Covid-19, are paid the 1000 leva monthly bonus. If anyone was left out, there would be penalties, he said.

Ahead of the 5pm briefing on March 28, it was announced that crisis staff briefings, until now held twice daily at 8am and 5pm at the MMA, would be held daily at 5pm at the Council of Ministers building, with no routine briefing in the morning. Borissov said that using the Cabinet building venue for the news conferences offered strict sanitary and hygiene precautions as well as physical spacing, the better to protect the health of the national crisis staff and of the reporters attending the briefings.

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